Columbia  ®[nibers;itp 
mtijeCitpofi^ekt)|9orfe 


LIBRARY 


DISCOURSE 

IN   COMMEMORATION   OF  THE 

FORTY-SIXTH  ANNIVERSAKY 

OF     THE 

MITE     SOCIETY; 

AND    THE 

Staff  Punkei  m)i  Jfiftttntlj  ^itmkrsitrj 

OF   TUB 

FIRST  BAPTIST  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA, 

BY  HENRY  JACKSON, 

Pastor  of  Central  Baptist  Church,  Newport,  M,  I, 


PROVIDENCE  : 

JOHN     K.     STICKNEY, 

1854. 


Kev.  H.  Jackson  : 

Dear  Sir  — ~ 

At  a  meeting  of  "  The  Female  Missionary 
Mite  Society,"  on  the  13th  instant,  it  was 

Resolved,  unanimously,  To  present  to  you  their  grateful  thanks,  for 
your  historical  and  deeply  interesting  discourse  in  behalf  of  the  Society/ 
delivered  at   the  First  Baptist  Meeting  House,  on  the  5th  instant. 

And  it  was,  also,  unanimously  voted,  to  solicit  you  to  grant  a  copy  for 
publication. 

With  great  consideration, 

Very  respectfully, 

Yours, 


Providence,  March  14th,  1854, 


S.  J.  WINSOR,  Secretary. 


Newport,  March  20th,  1854. 
Miss  Susan  J.  Winsor: 

Secretary  of  the  Female  Missionary  Mite  Society — '  ' 

The  discourse  to  which  yoiT  refer,  is  here^ 
with  submitted  for  your  disposal. 

Commending  the  interests  of  your  Society,  as  well  as  those  of  the  ancient 
Church,  whose  two  hundred  and  fifteenth  anniversary  was  united  with  the 
forty-sixth  anniversary  of  your  organization,  to  the  continued  faVoi:  of 
Heaven, 

I  remain, 

Very  respectfully, 

Yours, 

HENRY  JACKSON. 


A.  C.  GREENE,  PRINTER, 

PROVIDKNCB. 


DISCOUESE. 


Luke  xxiv  :  47.     '■'■  Beginning  at  Jerusalem.'''' 

We  are  convened  this  evening  to  perform  religious  services 
in  commemoration  of  the  Forty- Sixth  Anniversary  of  the 
"  Mite  Society,"  it , having  been  organized  on  Tuesday, 
November  11th,  1806,  forty-seven  years  since,  in  November. 

It  is  not  unsuitable  that  we  appreciate  other  events  also, 
which  will  hardly  fail  to  excite  your  attention,  when  I  remind 
you  that  this  month.  Two  Hundred  and  Fifteen  years  since, 
our  forefathers  laid  the  basis  of  this  church  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  upon  those  principles  that  have  stood  the  test  of  ages, 
and  which  he,  at  his  coming,  will  not  disown.  To  pass  the 
many  seasons  of  religious  truth  which,  during  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  God  was  pleased  to  grant  to  the  mem» 
bers  of  this  body,  there  was  an  event  at  the  close  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  second  century,  that  you  will  permit  me  hereto 
name,  I  refer  to  the  deep  interest  that  men,  then  worship- 
ping  with  this  religious  assembly,  exhibited  in  that  child  of 
truth  and  science  which  was  first  nursed  in  a  beautiful  village 
below  us,^  but  which  in  May,  1770,  was  brought  hither  to  its 
permanent  home.  Among  those  men  were  found  descendants 
of  that  honored  man,  who  in  1642  was  ordained  a  minister, 


*Warren,  the  town  where  the  College  was  founded,  1764,  and  instruction 
commenced  Sept.  1765. 
1* 


247383 


arid  who  in  this  office  continued  lo  officiate  in  this  church  fof 
about  twenty-three  years,  or  until  his  death  in  1665,  The 
name  of  the  Rev.  Chad  Browne,  has  not  been  forgotten) 
nor  have  his  children,  in  any  day  from  that  period,  ceased  to 
partake  of  emblems,  that  he  delighted  to  minister,  to  the  church 
here  established. 

With  the  University  of  the  Broiuns,  came  also  its  teacher 
and  its  head.  The  citizens  crowded  the  old  housef  on  the  cor- 
ner of  King,  since  called  North  Main,  and  Smith  streets  to  lis-* 
ten  to  words  of  knowledge  from  his  lips;  and  on  Wednesday, 
July  31st,  1771,  when  thirty  two  years  old,  the  voice  of  the 
church  called  him  lo  lis  pastorate,  urging  that  in  the  then  cir-* 
cumstances  of  the  College,  he  could  both  leach  the  principles 
of  science  and  minister  at  the  altar — services  which  President 
Manning  felt  himself  unable  to  perform.  But  as  the  limes 
were,  the  results  taught  him  ihc  wisdom  of  ihe  measure.  He 
had»the  higliest  evidence  lo  sustain  him.  More  than  one  bun-' 
dred  persons  received  baptism  at  his  hands,  ntu!  ihe  house  in 
which  we  are  assembled  to-night  he  had  the  pleasure  of  con- 
secrating, Lord's  day.  May  28ih,  1775,  to  public  worship  and 
commencement  services,  as  he  had  done  previously,  the  build- 
ing now   known    as  '■''Univcrsitij  HaU^'''%  to  useful  learning. 


fThe  first  house  was  build  in  1700.  In  1726,  this  house,  measuring  3& 
by  41  feet,  and  finished  with  pews  and  galleries,  was  erected.  The  con-" 
gregation  then  embraced  240  families,  and  the  church  118  members. 
The  population  of  the  town  was  about  4000. 

JThis  building  was  commenced  on  Monday,  26th  of  March,  and  on  Monday 
May  14th,  the  corner  stone  was  laid  by  John  Erown.  Its  dimensions 
are  150  by  46  feet,  four  stories  high,  and  it  was  completed  in  1771.  The 
situation  "is  airy,  healthful  and  pleasant,  being  on  the  summit  of  a  hill 
pretty  easy  of  ascent,  and  commanding  a  prospect  of  the  town  of  Provi- 
dence below,  of  the  Narragansett  Eay  and  the  Islands,  and  of  an  exten- 
sive country,  variegated  with  hills  and  dales,  woods  and  plains,  &c. 
Surely  this  spot  was  made  for  the  seat  of  the  Muses.''  Morgan  Edwards, 
1771. 


And  verily,  as  Dr.  Manning,  in  the  words  of  the  patriarch,  af- 
firmed at  the  dedication  of  this  beautiful  temple,  so  he  was 
constrained  often  in  the  subsequent  years  of  his  ministry  in 
this  place  to  repeat  that  text  of  the  Scriptures,  Gen.xxviii:  17- 
"  This  is  none  other  hut  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate 
of  heaven.^^  By  the  peculiar  success  of  the  pastorship  of  this 
servant  of  Christ,  the  former  house  had  become  "  too  small 
for  the  great  number  that  pressed  to  hear  the  Gospel;"  and 
as  an  illuatration  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Lord  had  opened 
the  hearts  of  the  worshippers,  and  had  also  inspired  with  gen- 
erous sentiments  many  of  the  influential  citizens,  behold  these 
premises,  in  the  deeds  of  which,  the  objects  are  so  distinctly 
stated,  viz.:  "for  erecting  a  house  for  the  public  worship  of 
Almighty  God  and  holding  public  commencements.-'l 

Seventeen  years  of  Dr.  Manning's  life  were  devoted  to  this 
church  and  the  College,  when  constrained  by  his  frequent 
persuasions,  the  former  yielded  to  his  request,  and  on  Lord's 
day,  March  16ih,  1788,  his  pastoral  relation  ceased.  But  he 
did  not  leave  this  house  without  giving  that  sweet  and  precious 
counsel,  which  was  the  great  end  he  sought  to  accomplish  in 
your  fathers,  saying  from  the  sacred  desk  as  he  retired  on  that 
holy  Sabbath,  "  Finally,  brethren,  farewell.  Be  j)erfect,  be  of 
good  comfort,  be  of  one  mind,  live  in  peace,  and  the  God  of 
love  and  peace  shall  be  ivith  you"  This  sacred  pastoral  tie, 
so  mutually  dear,   was  not   severed  but   of  necessity.     The 


JThe  north  half  of  the  lot  was  purchased  of  Win.  Russell  Esq.,  embracing 
90  feet  on  King,  or  North  Main  Street,  and  the  south  half  of  Amaziah 
Waterman  Esq.,  including  the  intervening  land  to  Pi'esident  Street,  ex- 
cepting a  lot  in  the  south  west  corner  of  112  feet  on  President,  and  58 
feet  on  King,  now  North  Main  Street.  Each  lot  was  bought  at  £855,  or 
$2,853,33 — amounting  to  $5,706,60  ;  and  the  house  at  cost  was  erected 
for  about  $20,000.  The  premises  may  be  set  down  at  $25,700,66  in 
1775  ;  in  1854  they  could  not  be  obtained  at  $100,000.  The  house  is 
80  by  96  feet  including  tower,  and  the  lot  is  about  200  by  300  feet,  in- 
cluding the  small  lot  before  named. 


church  said  go  if  you  must,  and,  as  well  becomes  the  Presi- 
dent of  any  important  institution,  devote  your  entire  energy 
to  the  duties  of  the  rising  college.  Bui  this  privilege  was  not 
long  continued.  His  fondly  cherished  purpose  was  soon  in- 
terrupted. On  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  29ih  of  July, 
1791,  he,  when  not  fifty-three  'years  old,  was  suddenly  called 
from  his  high  eminence  by  that  messenger,  to  whose  summons 
every  one  yields,  and  rose  to  higher  employment  than  this 
world  can  furnish,  aged  fifty-two  years,  nine  months  and  six- 
teen days,  he  having  been  born  in  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  on 
Monday,  Oct.  16th,  1738.  He  was  the  President  of  the  Col- 
lege, twenty-five  years,  ten  months,  and  twenty-four  days  ;  and 
pastor  of  this  church,  sixteen  years,  seven  months,  and  sixteen 
days. 

Associated  with  President  Manning  was  the  son  of  the 
fourth  generation  of  the  venerable  and  reverend,  Chad  Brown, 
a  professor  in  the  Institution,  the  designer  of  this  house,  and 
a  member  of  this  church,  having  been  baptized  by  Pastor 
Manning  on  Lord's  day,  April  2d,  1775,  and  who  in  a  man- 
ner  as  sudden,  departed  this  life  on  his  birthday,  when  fifty- 
two  years  of  age,  Saturday,  Dec.  3d,  1785,  he  having  been 
born,  Monday,  Dec.  3d,  1733 : — I  refer  to  the  Hon.  Joseph 
Brown,  a  brother  of  the  four  Browns,  of  Providence  memory, 
and  by  no  means  inferior  to  either  of  them  in  genuine  worth. 
Thus  entered  eternity  James  Manning,  its  first ;  and  since 
him,  Jonathan  Maxcy,  its  second;  and  Asa  MesseR;  its 
third  President ;  but  the  University  still  lives,  having  a  highly 
successful  and  justly  respected  president,  Francis  Wayland, 
who  presides  over  its  interests  with  great  dignity,  as  \\\e fourth 
in  office,  and  who  was  elected  to  this  station  Wednesday,  Dec. 
13th,  1826,  and  upon  the  duties  of  which  he  entered  Friday, 
Feb.  the  9th,  1827.  And  to-night  it  becomes  us  to  conse- 
crate afresh  to  science  and  religion,  this  child  of  our  fathers — 
our  venerable  matron.     And  here  also  an  the  opening  of  this 


^wo  hundred  and  sixteenth  year  of  this  Our  Mother  ChurcHj 
we  will  renew  our  covenant  with  her,  and  lift  up  our  prayer 
that  her  age  may  never  become  infirm,  nor  her  sons  and 
daughters  fail  to  adhere  to  her  precepts,  or  jieglect  to  seek  her 
counsels,  while  her  service  is  needed  by  Him,  by  whose  prov- 
idence she  has  been  placed  in  this  land  of  religious  and  civil 
freedom.  She  is  the  mother  of  Baptists  in  America,  and 
therefore  the  first  and  the  oldest  church  in  the  Denomination 
in  this  country.  Nor  are  we  ready  to  see  her  occupying  any 
other  position,  than  history  has  assigned  to  her,  in  the  first  two 
centuries  of  its  settlement. 

Before  I  enter  upon  an  account  of  the  object  and  success 
of  the  ancient  society,  now  assembled  in  this  house  of  seven- 
teen hundred  and  seventy-five,  I  deem  it  appropriate  first  to 
dwell  upon  some  of  the  causes  to  which  its  origin  is  to  be  as- 
cribed. The  period  to  which  I  refer,  will  ever  be  memorable 
in  the  history  of  Christian  Missions,  and  especially  to  us,  in 
the  annals  of  American  Baptist  History. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1790,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Baldwin 
began  his  ministry  in  the  town  of  Boston  and  became  the 
pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  in  that  place  on  Tuesday,  the 
lllh  of  November.  He  was  at  that  lime  thirty-seven  years 
of  age,  having  been  born  in  the  town  of  Bozrah,  Connecticut, 
Saturday,  Dec.  23d,  1753.  In  the  First  Baptist'  Church  in 
that  same  New  England  Metropolis,  had  officiated  for  twenty- 
five  years  as  its  pastor,  (a  quarter  of  a  century,)  Rev.  Dr. 
Samuel  Stillman,  then  fifty-three  years  old,  having  been  born 
in  Philadelphia,  Wednesday,  the  27lh  of  February,  1737. 
He  was  not  settled  until  Tuesday,  January  9th,  1765,  although 
he  commenced  his  ministry  there  in  1763.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  1790,  a  very  interesting  revival  of  religion  was  enjoy- 
ed in  both  these,  and  two  Congregational  churches;  but 
principally  in  the  first  two.  I  copy  from  the  Baptist  Register, 
published  in  England,  1792^  some  account  of  that  work  of 


grace,  not  doubting  that  in  this  connection  it  will  be  accepta- 
ble to  you. 

"  There  has  been,"  the  writer  writes,  ''  a  very  pleasing  revival  of  relig- 
ion at  Boston  for  eighteen  months  past.  The  Lord  has  evidently  been  at 
work  in  that  place.  Dr.  Stilhnan,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
there,  had  for  some  time  felt  a  greater  desire  than  usual  for  the  conversion 
of  siimers,  which  naturally  led  him  to  more  than  common  exertions.  An 
uncommon  seriousness  and  attention  were  observed  in  the  public  assem- 
blies ;  the  people  seemed  to  stand  on  tip-toe  to  hear  the  word,  at  length 
some  persons  became  anxious  and  inquisitive  about  their  salvation.  About 
the  month  of  August,  several  young  persons  went  a  small  distance  into 
the  country  to  visit  a  sensible  person.  His  godly  conversation  was  the 
means  of  awakening  one  or  two  of  them,  who,  when  they  got  among  theif 
young  acquaintances  in  a  factory  where  they  all  wrought  together,  were 
the  means  of  awakening  several  others ;  and,  at  length,  a  considerable 
number  of  them  were  evidently  under  great  concern  of  mind.  Some  of 
them  visited  the  Eev.  Mr.  Baldwin,  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  ; 
thirteen  or  fourteen  of  them  at  a  time,  have  been  in  Dr.  Stillman's  study, 
inquiring  what  they  should  do  to  be  saved.  At  this  time,  "  these  pastors" 
preached  or  expounded  almost  every  night  in  the  week  ;  several  evening 
societies  were  set  up,  which  have  been  thronged  ever  since.  Those  per- 
sons who,  in  a  judgment  of  charity,  were  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  made  a  pulilic  profession ;  others  were  deeply  convinced  of  sin,  by 
seeing  their  companions  leaving  them,  and,  as  they  thought,  going  toheav-^ 
en.  Thus  the  work,  which  was  chiefly  among  the  young  people,  went  on 
gradually,  and  what  is  a  very  pleasing  circumstance,  rationally,  without 
much  noise  or  show.  It  was  remarkable,  how  clearly  they  appeared  to  be 
convinced  of  their  guilt,  and  lost  condition,  and  of  the  justice  of  God  ia 
their  condemnation,  as  well  as  of  the  method  of  salvation  by  Christ." 

The  power  of  religious  truth  developed  for  some  few  years 
subsequent  to  the  settlement  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  was,  as  other 
lips  have  pronounced,  the  great  instrument  of  restoring  in 
many  churches  of  different  denominations  in  Boston  and  vi- 
cinity, that  had  become  mere  religious  formalists,  the  evangel- 
ical character  which  has  from  that  period  been  constantly  in- 
creasing, and  which  has  become  so  distinctly  recognized 
among  those  who  believe  in  experimental  religion.  These 
servants  of  Christ  labored  together  as  in  a  common  cause  Ioe 


seventeen  years,  when  the  senior  in  a  manner  sudden,  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years,  and  thirteen  days,  fell  asleep  in  Christ 
in  his  own  house,  at  midnight,  Thursday,  March  12ih,  1807  ; 
and  the  junior  in  a  manner  equally  sudden,  al  Wal.rville, 
Maine,  during  the  night  of  Monday,  the29ih  of  August,  1825, 
aged  seventy-two  years,  eight  months,  and  six  days  ;  the  pray- 
er of  each  having  been  most  graciously  fulfilled,  that  their  life 
and  active  usefulness,  might  expire  at  the  same  hour. 

It  was  during  the  last  ten  years  of  the  eigteenth  ceniury,  or 
from  1790  to  1800,  or  more  than  fifty  years  since,  that  the  first 
pure  missionary  feeling  was  discovered  in  our  denomination. 
Our  fathers  began  to  contemplate  plans  for  the  sustaining  of 
missionary  labor.  The  R-ev.  Lemuel  Covell,  a  Baptist  clergy- 
man who  had  been  a  resident  of  the  town  of  Milton,  County 
of  Saratoga,  Slate  of  New  York,  under  date  of  Monday,  Oc- 
tober 14th,  1799,  makes  mention  of  some  one  hundred  and 
fifty  members  w^ho  had  been  added  to  our  churches  in  that 
place ;  and  also  that  remarkable  revivals  of  religion  had  been 
enjoyed  in  the  year  previous  in  the  infant  settlements  at  the 
westward,  referring  to  that  section  of  country,  which  is  now 
denominated  Central  and  Western  New  York.  As  illustra- 
tive of  his  times,  I  give  you  a  passage  in  his  own  language* 
"  Oh  !  with  what  inexpressible  delight,"  he  writes,  "  did  we 
descend  to  the  frozen  liquid  to  find  the  grave  of  our  glorious 
Leader!  Not  the  severity  of  the  rugged  blasts  of  winter- 
storms — not  the  coldness  of  the  weather,  nor  the  frozen  state 
of  the  water  seemed  in  the  least  to  discourage  the  most  deli- 
cate constitutions  from  testifiying  their  loyalty  to  the  dear  Re- 
deemer, by  following  him  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism ;  and 
we  frequently  had  such  manifestations  of  the  divine  presence 
on  such  occasions  as  every  attempt  to  describe  would  be  en- 
tirely ineffectual."  Mr.  Covell  assigns  a  reason  for  his  letter, 
that  he  had  been  "  informed  by  Capt.  Hallett "  (that  aged  dis- 
ciple who  recently  ^died  at  his  residence  on  Cape  Cod,)  "  that 
you,"  (the  minister  in  Boston  to  whom  he  addressed  it)  "  were 


10 

in  a  correspondence  with  Dr.  Rippon,  of  England,  and  were 
engaged  to  collect,  and  communicate  to  him,  all  the  intelli- 
gence respecting  the  situation  and  progress  of  religion  in 
America,  that  lies  in  your  power :  and  concluded  from  that 
circumstance,  that  any  accounts  from  these  parts,  of  the  con- 
quests of  Sovereign  Grace,  the  revival  of  religion,  the  conver- 
sion of  perishing  sinners,  and  the  increase  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  despised  Nazarene,  must  be  both  rejoicing  and  useful  to 
you.  I  have,  by  a  pamphlet  you  have  published,  seen,  that 
you  have  already  had  intelligence  of  the  revival  in  Shaftsbury, 
in  the  State  of  Vermont,  the  year  past ;  but  there  have  been 
several  in  the  compass  of  my  acquaintance,  that  I  think  it 
probable  you  have  no  account  of." 

In  the  years  eighteen  hundred  and  one,  and  four  and  five, 
there  were  powerful  revivals  of  religion  in  the  church  meeting 
in  this  house,  and  also  in  those  of  Boston.  Churches  of  oth- 
er denominations  of  Christians,  likewise  participated  in  these 
outpouringsof  the  Holy  Spirit.  These  seasons  of  the  Spirit's 
power,  repeated  as  they  were  during  a  few  successive  years, 
laid  in  this  country  the  foundation  for  that  deep  missionary 
feeling  that  has  prevailed  tince  the  opening  of  this  century  ; 
and  gave  energy  to  Evangelical  churches  in  the  prosecution 
of  that  gospel  labor,  that  constitutes  the  most  remarkable  fea- 
tures of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  The  departure  from  Eng- 
land of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Carey  and  his  associates,  for  India, 
Thursday,  June  13th,  1793,  in  conformity  with  his  appoint- 
ment on  Wednesday,  the  ninth  day  of  the  previous  January, 
had  incited  a  spirit  of  prayer  in  christians,  and  multitudes 
were  led  to  inquire,  what  it  means  to  say,  "  Thy  kingdom 
eome." 

It  seems  to  me  that  it  becomes  us  to  mark  the  peculiar,  as 
well  as  special  providences  of  God,  to  which  I  have  adverted. 
As  I  have  said,  for  several  successive  years,  revivals  of  the 
^race  of  God,  were  frequent  throughout  New  England,  and 


11 

in  many  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  northern  Prov- 
inces of  America ;  and  that  by  this  means,  in   addition  to  the 
conversions  under  the  ordinary  ministry  of  the  word,  a  large 
number  of  souls  became  members  of  the  American  churches. 
In  the  Warren  Association  alone,  to  which  we  belong,  during 
the  first   ten  years   of  this  era,  or  from  eighteen   hundred  to 
eighteen  hundred  and  eleven,  there  were  added  to  the  churches 
then  composing  it,  by  christian  baptism,  four  thousand,  four 
hundred   and  seventy-five  ;    it  being  an    annual  average  of 
more  than  four  hundred  and  seventy  :  and  thai  too,  when  the 
number  of  the  population  did  not  equal  one  third  of  its  pres- 
ent estimate.     Such  additions  according  to  the  number  of  our 
present  inhabitants,  would  exceed  fifteen  thousand  in  the  ag- 
gregate.    Nor  did  these   effusions  of  grace   cease  with  eigh- 
teen hundred  and  ten,  for  in  eighteen  hundred  and  twelve  and 
sixteen,  and  twenty,  they  were  graciously  renewed  in  the  con- 
version of  very  many  other  souls,  and  from  year  to  year  there 
have  been  reported  frequently,  large  additions  to  our  churches, 
and  in  this  day,  as  our  periodicals  bear  us  testimony,  this  glo- 
rious work  is  progressing  in  various   portions  of  the  land,  and 
one  at  least  even  now  in  your  southern  County.     And  among 
those  ministers  whose  labors   have  been  thus  honored  of  the 
great  Head  of  the  church  no  one  could  record  more  of  such 
mercy  than    the  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  Gano,  the  revered  pastor 
of  this  church  to  which  you  belong,  who  for  thirty-six  years 
and  ten  days,  (he  having  been  called  to  this  office,   Wednes- 
day, the  8lh  of  August,  1792,)  preached  in  this  place  the  gos- 
pel with  great  power  and  unction,  as  some  of  us  can  testify, 
and  during  his  pastorate  enjoyed  nine  different  revivals,  and 
who  departed  this  life,  Monday,  August   18ih,  1828,  being 
sixty-five  years,  seven    months,  and    twenty-five  days  old,  he 
having  been  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Saturday,  the  2oth 
of  Dec.  1762.     Sabbath,    April  6th,   he  broke  bread  to   this 
church,  and  on  Sabbath,  the  27th,  in  the   morning  preached 
for  the  last  time  on  those  words  of  the  Romans,  v:  and  4th, 


12 

so  beautifully  and  largely  fulfilled  in  his  soul,  ^^  And  exper- 
ience, hopey  On  Wednesday,  May  ^8di,  he  pronounced  his 
benediction  in  this  house,  and  which  the  people  felt  still  abode 
upon  them,  when,  in  front  of  the  pulpit  that  he  so  long  had  fill- 
ed, his  remains  were  placed,  and  as  they  followed  iheni  to  the 
ground  where  those  of  the  Browns  and  Manning,  also  rest  in 
hope.  It  was  this  minister  of  Jesus,  who,  when  apparently 
dying,  by  Joseph  Martin,  that  i'aithful  deacon  who,  anxious 
to  see  the  man  die  that  had  taught  him  the  way  of  life  for  so 
many  years,  had  come  in  at  the  hour,  sent  to  ^his  church  the 
warm  assurance  of  his  continued  love  towards  them  accom- 
panied with  this  peculiarly  marked  message.  "  Tell  them 
that  the  Divinity  of  Christ  is  the  rock  upon  which  my  soul 
rests  in  my  last  hour."  "  What  Dr.,"  rejoined  the  Deacon, 
"  do  you  hold  to  that  doctrine  yet."  "  No,"  he  replied,  "  but 
that  holds  me."  No  marvel  that  he  could  affirm  as  he  did 
to  a  friend,  "  I  die  understandingly." 

Tt  was  during  such  divine  manifestation  to  the  churches  in 
this  country,  that  the  seed  of  the  word  of  God  was  sown 
broadcast,  and  that  by  this  means  the  hearts  of  American 
christians  became  deeply  imbued  with  that  sweet  and  holy 
sympathy,  that  so  justly  signalized  Jesus  Christ,  "  when  he 
saw  the  multitudes,  and  was  moved  with  compassion  on  them, 
because  they  fainted,  and  were  scattered  abroad,  as  sheep 
having  no  shepherd."  Then  he  said  to  his  disciples,  "  The 
harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  iew.  Pray  ye 
therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  la- 
borers into  his  harvest."  The  churches  as  of  old,  were  multi- 
plied greatly  in  numbers,  piety,  and  pecuniary  ability.  Com- 
merce also  at  the  same  time  was  gaining  in  the  land  ;  and  ed- 
ucation, both  ministerial  and  common,  received  the  fostering 
care  of  the  infant  Republic  and  the  growing  church.  I  won- 
der not  therefore,  that  the  last  century  could  not  close  without 
being  adorned  with  a  missionary  society,  though  it  were  form- 


ed  in  the  last  year  of  its  existence.^  Nor,  that  as  early  in  this 
century  as  Thursday,  2'J;h  of  April,  1802,  a  committee  of  the 
I  wo  Baptist  churches  in  Boston,  consisting  of  Samuel  Still- 
man,  Thomas  Baldwin,  Richard  Smith,  Daniel  Wild,  John 
Wait,  and  Thomas  Badger,  should  have  sent  from  the  Bap- 
tisl  Churches  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  a  Circularj 
expressed  in  language  as  follows,  viz.:  "  To  our  Christian 
Brethren  united  with  us  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospeh 
Being  deeply  impressed  with  tiic  important  obligations  we  are 
under,  not  only  to  pray  for  the  prosperity  of  Zion,  but  to  use 
our  best  endeavors  to  promote,  and  spread  far  and  wide,  the! 
knowledge  of  our  Divine  Immanuel;  and  reflecting  seriously 
upon  the  afTccling  situation  of  many  of  our  dear  fellow  men, 
who  from  local,  and  other  circumstances,  are  deprived  of  the 
means  of  Christian  knowledge  and  consolation,  which  we 
enjoy  from  a  preached  gospel ;  feel  our  hearts  go  out  towards 
ihem,  in  ardent  desires  for  their  salvation. 

Under^hese  impressions,  and  animated  by  the  laudable  ex- 
ertions which  many  of  our  Christian  friends,  of  diiierent  de- 
nominations, on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  are  making,  to  ex- 
tend the  empire  of  truth,  and  promote  the  salvation  of  dying 
men,  Vv'e  propose  the  forming  of  a  Missionary  Society,  for  the 
purposes  hereafter  mentioned.  And,  in  order  to  make  our 
intt'niion  more  explicit,  we  submit  to  your  consideration  the 
following  constitution;"  the  fourth  article  of  which  is  ex- 
pressed in  these  words,  vi:^.:  "  The  object  of  this  society 
shall  be,  to  furnish  occasional  preaching,  and  to  promote  the 
knowledge  of  evangelical  truth  in  the  new  settlements  within 
these  United  States;  or  farther,  if  circumstances  should  ren- 
der it  proper."  Thus  came  into  existence,  "  The  Massachu- 
setts Baptist  Missionary  Society,"  at  the  First  Baptist  Meeting 
House  in  Boston,  Wediiesday,  May  26th,  1802,  which  is  still 
continued  under   the  name  of  "  The   Massachusetts    Baptist 

•  "  Massachusetts  Miasionary  Society,"  Boston,  Tuesday,  May  28th,  1799, 


14 

Convention."  The  Society  when  instituted,  committed  i(g 
interests  for  the  years  1802-3,  to  a  Board  of  twelve  Trustees 
and  their  names  are  recorded  in  the  following  order,  viz.:  Sam- 
uel Slillman,  Hezekiah  Smith,  Thomas  Baldwin,  Joseph 
Girafton,  Stephen  Gano,  Joel  Briggs,  Valentine  W.  Rathbun, 
Thomas  Waterman,  John  Wait,  Richard  Smith,  Stephen 
Dana,  and  Oliver  Holden.  These  Trustees  gave  to  their 
missionaries  such  admirable  instructions  that  I  beg  leave  for 
a  moment  to  allude  to  them.  They  authorized  and  directed 
them  to  labor  in  such  destitute  places,  as  had  no  stated  minis- 
try of  the  word  ;  and  solicitously  to  avoid  all  interference  with, 
and  allusions  to  those  political  topics  which  divide  the  opin- 
ions, and  too  much  irritate  the  passions  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
such  subjects  being,  as  they  believed,  "  irrelevant  to  the  spirit- 
ual purposes  of  missionary  exertion,  subversive  of  a  reasona- 
ble success^  and  excite  an  asperity  of  feeling  that  is  wholly 
opposed  to  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  the  Christian  tem- 
per, '  for  the  wrath  of  man  worketh  not  the  righteousness  of 
God.' "  Those  twelve  Trustees  entered  upon  their  trust,  and 
diligently  labored  in  that,  and  also  in  many  other  departments 
of  Christian  Missions,  until  one  after  another  they  have  been 
called  from  their  respective  spheres,  and  not  one  of  them  re- 
mains to  describe  the  doings  of  that  last  Wednesday  in  May, 
1802. 

In  the  gradual  development  ol  the  spirit  of  those  times, 
there  came  into  active  efficiency,  "  The  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,''^  Friday,  June  29th, 
1810.  The  Salem  Bible  Translation  and  Foreign  Mission 
Society,  formed  in  the  month  of  January,  1812 ;  and  on 
Wednesday,  the  14th  of  the  ensuing  October,  the  Baptist 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  embracing  Massachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island.  The  conversion  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Judson 
and  Rice  to  Baptist  sentiments,  and  the  baptism  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Judson  at  Calcutta,  on  Lord's  day,  September  6lh,  1812, 
tended  to  deepen  the  conviction  that  had  been  constantly  gain* 


15 

Irig  upon  ihe  Denomination,  which  resuhed  finally  in  the  COfl- 
stitulion  of  the  General  Missionary  Convention  of  the  Bap- 
tist Denomination  in  the  United  States,  on  Wednesday,  the 
18th  of  May,  1814,  at  the  First  Baptist  Meeting  House,  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  At  that  Convention,  twenty-ond 
members  were  elected  a^  its  Board  of  Commissioners,  and 
five  as  honorary  members,  every  one  of  whom,  as  also  every 
member  that  constituted  the  original  Board  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society  in  America,  have  ceased  to  be  mem- 
bers of  the  church  militant,  and  have  been  admitted  to  the 
church  triumphant,  the  last  survivor  of  the  Board  first  naraedj 
the  venerable  and  Rev.  Dr.  H.  G.  Jones,  so  long  known  as  the 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Lower  Marion,  Pa.,  died  at 
his  residence,  near  Philadelphia,  Monday,  December  12lh, 
1853,  aged  79  years. 

The  soil  being  prepared  by  the  conversion  of  such  great 
multitudes  in  our  land,  both  the  men  and  the  means  were  al- 
ready prepared  to  sustain  the  work  of  missions.  And  a  work 
so  well  begun,  is  being  carried  forward  by  the  church  of  other 
names,  but  of  the  same  spirit.  And  it  is  a  delightful  and  ani- 
mating consideration  that  although  the  members  die,  the  Head 
lives  to  supply  their  places  j  so  that  the  walls  of  the  spiritual 
Jerusalem  cease  not,  nor  will  ihey  cease  in  being  built,  until 
the  headstone  thereof  be  brought  forth  with  rejoicing,  crying, 
grace,  grace,  unto  it ;  and  the  entire  body  of  believers  in  Jesus 
shall  have  been  welcomed  to  their  permanent  abode. 

No  one  should  question  the  fact,  the  truth  of  which  has 
been  so  evidently  exhibited  during  the  years  we  have  thus 
briefly  contemplated,  and  as  every  other  year  of  God's  grace 
has  so  fully  illustrated,  wherein  it  has  been  graciously  vouch- 
safed, viz.:  That  the  revival  of  pure  religion,  as  in  the 

DAY  OF  THE  PeNTECOST,  DOES  EFFECTUALLY  PROMOTE  THE 
SPIRIT  OF  MISSIONS,  THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GoD  HEREBY  TEACH- 
ING US  THAT  NO  FEELING  IS  MORE  INDICATIVE  OF  TRUE  AND 
ENLIGHTENED  PIETY  THAN    THAT    WHICH    PROMPTS    US  TO    SINCf 


With  THE  ANGELS,    "  Oi\  EARTH    PEACE:     GOOD    WILL    TOW  ART- 
MEN  J  "    OR  LIKE   THE    MaSTER,  TO  GO  "  ABOUT  DOING   GOOD." 

But  it  is  not  permitted  to  every  disciple  to  become  a  foreign 
missionary.  There  is  soil  at  home  that  must  be  cultivated; 
and  which,  if  neglected,  we  shall  be  unable  to  sustain  those 
we  send  to  the  heathen.  God  has  wisely  provided  for  this 
in  the  missions  of  our  half  century*  And  it  is  as  true  now. 
as  in  the  beginning,  that  the  promise  is  made  to  the  disciple^ 
and  not  to  the  place  of  his  labor. 

"For  does  it  not  in  Scripture  say, 

Tliat  he  who  goes  and  he  who  stays, 

Shall  have  an  equal  part  1 — 

And  both  shall  hear  the  joyful  words, 
"Well  done  " — ^ye  servants  of  the  Lord— 

Ye  shall  my  glory  share." 

In  the  early  records  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Society,  we  have  the  journals  of  the  pioneers  in  our  do- 
mestic Missions.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  account  of  the 
labor  tliey  performed,  and  the  privations  they  endured,  and 
not  be  impressed  with  the  diligent  manner  in  which  they  pur- 
sued the  objects  of  their  appointment,  and  the  power  with 
which  they  preached  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  the  names  of 
Isaac  Case,  Peter  P.  Roots,  Lemuel  Covell,  Jesse  Hartwell, 
Caleb  Blood,  James  Murphy,  Phineas  Pillsbury,  Henry  Hall, 
John  Tripp,  James  Read,*  Joseph  Cornell, and  many  oth.^rs, 
will  be  held  in  devout  rememberance  by  those  who  reap  the 
fruit  of  their  missionary  efi'urts.  And  in  those  days  likewise, 
such  men  as  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  and  Dr.  Gano,  with  the  ap- 
probation of  their  respective  churches,  explored  in  person  the 
field  of  labor,  that  the  appointments  of  the  Board  might  be 
made  with  greater  judgment,  and  the  appropriations  be  ex- 
pended in  a  manner  the  most  effective  for  the  Society.  And 
in  those  days  also,  thechurch  as  a  body  were  not  only  impress- 


*Father  of  Dea.  James  H.  Read  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Prov.  R.  I  • 


15^ 

'ed  with  the  demand,  but  seldom  a  prayer  was  offered,  eilhet 
in  social  or  public  wor.-jhip,  in  which  the  suppliant  did  not  in 
an  earnest  and  fervent  manner  beseech  the  Lord  of  the  har* 
vest,  "  to  raise  up,  and  suitably  qualify,  and  thrust  into  his 
harvest  faithful  laborers.''  And  in  what  period  so  much  as  in 
this  day  of  ministerial  requisition,  has  this  prayer  of  the  fathers, 
been  so  imperiously  necessary  ? 

It  is  appropriate,  especially  on  this  Occasion,  that  I  particu'^ 
larly  allude  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Cornell,  that  minister  of 
Christ,  who  was  the  father  and  the  first  pastor  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  in  this  city.  He  was  born  in  Swansea,  Mass., 
Wednesday,  Feb.  11th,  1747,  and  was  settled  as  a  christian 
pastor  in  Providence,  on  Wednesday,  May  1st,  1805,  and 
which  office  he  resigned  in  November,  1811.  Mr.  Cornell 
was  employed  as  a  missionary  by  the  Society,  of  which  I 
have  just  spoken  in  the  years  18C3 — 4.  The  portion  of  the 
■country  which  was  assigned  to  him  was  northern  New  York 
and  Upper  Canada.  And  that  I  may  illustrate  the  character 
of  this  energetic  and  efficient  servant  of  Christ,  I  ask  your 
indulgence  while  I  read  to  you  an  extract  from  each  of  his 
two  journals,  that  appeared  in  the  Magazine,  which  was  first 
published  in  1802,  the  same  year  that  the  Society  was  formed. 
The  first  was  dated  at  Galway,  New  York,  Wednesday,  April 
6th,  1803  (the  town  of  his  permanent  residence,  and  where  al- 
so he  so  suddenly  and  so  sweetly  died,  Wednesday,  July  26lh, 
1826,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,)  and  which  he  thus 
closed,  viz.: 

"  I  cannot  paint  out  to  you  the  Macedonian  cries  from  the  north  part  of 
■Black  River,  and  from  Canada,  for  help.  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
travelling  in  new  countries  for  a  number  of  years,  but  I  never  was  sensi- 
ble of  instrumentally  making  so  many  people  glad  in  a  journey  before. 
Their  thanks  were  multiplied  from  town  to  town,  and  their  prayers  were, 
that  they  might  be  favored  with  furtlior  assistance.  May  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  send  more  laborers  into  all  the  vacant  patrts. 

I  have  visited  and  preached  in  forty-one  towns  where  they  have  no  set- 
tled minister  of  any  denomination ;  in  thirteen  towns  where  there  never 
had  been  a  missionary  before.  I  have  'preached  in  forty-seven  towns  m 
2 


18 

the  whole;  and  rode  one  thousand  miles,  (not  railroad  miles,  or  tui*npike 
roads.)  In  my  whole  tour  I  have  tried  to  preach  one  hundred  and  twen* 
ty-three  times,  besides  attending  a  number  of  conferences.  I  have  very 
little  to  say  about  difficulties." 

The  second  letter  is  dated  at  the  same  place,  Thursday, 
May  10th,  1804,  and  in  conclusion   he  writes  : 

"  I  think  1  may  venture  to  say,  I  have  had  as  much  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence as  I  ever  had,  in  a  journey  before.  The  thought  of  meeting  you,  deaf 
l>rethren,  at  the  throne  of  grace,  when  I  have  attempted  to  pro.y  or  preach 
in  this  desert  land,  has  often  extorted  tears  of  joy  from  my  eyes.  0  that 
your  labors  in  having  sent  the  first  missionaries  into  these  northern  re- 
gions, may  be  blessed. 

I  have  lately  seen  a  letter,  giving  an  account  of  a  missionary's  return* 
ing  to  England  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  accompanied  by  three  Hot* 
tentots,  who  had  been  converted  to  the  faith  of  Jesus  ;  and  further  stat* 
ing,  that  he  had  gathered  a  church  there  of  thirty  members.  On  reading 
this  account  my  heart  exclaimed,  my  body  is  not  too  good  to  be  worn  out 
in  so  glorious  a  cause,  might  I  only  have  the  company  of  my  sweet  Savior, 
who  left  heaven  and  came  down  to  earth  to  die  for  us  poor  sinners. 

Since  I  have  been  on  my  mission  I  have  rode  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventeen  miles.  I  have  attempted  to  preach  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
sermons.  And  I  think  I  can  say  1  have  found  the  saying  of  that  prophet 
true,  "  TTiey  that  ivait  on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  gti-ejigth."  0  Lord 
make  me  thankful  that  I  have  seen  so  much  of  the  work  of  thy  spirit  on 
the  hearts  of  poor  sinners.  Not  unto  us,  not  on  us,  0  Lord,  but  unto  thy 
name  be  all  the  glory  in  the  church  throughout  all  ages." 

Mr.  Cornell  visited  this  town  in  1804.  For  one  year  he 
supplied  the  Richmond  Street  Congregational  pulpit,  a  meet"» 
ing-house  that  had  been  erected  in  1794 — 5,  and  dedicated  on 
Sabbath,  the  16th  of  August,  1795,  but  which  was  then  va-' 
cant  by  the  death  of  their  pastor  on  Sabbath,  the  10th  of  April, 

1803,  (the  year  previous,)  the  \^orthy  and  venerable.  Rev* 
Joseph  Snow,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  and 
of  the  fifty-ninth    year  of  his  ministry.     In    the  summer   of 

1804,  at  Eddy's  Point,  then  so  called,  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mr.  Cornell's  dwelling-house,  there  were  evident  indications 
of  a  revival  of  religion.  During  the  ensuing  autumn  and 
winter  the  work  of  grace   gradually  became  more  powerful' 


19 

It  prevailed  also  among   the  congregation    occupying   tlie^e 
premises. 

The  pastor  having  been  confined  that  season  for  several 
weeks  at  home  by  a  broken  limb,  the  meetings  were  prompt- 
ly and  faithfully  conducted  by  the  Rev.  John  Pitman,*  that 
able,  and  sound,  and  faithful  divine,  so  long  known  and  so 
universally  beloved  in  this  community;  and  Rev.  Dr.  Mes- 
3ER,  the  President  of  the  University,  and  Mr.  Cornell,  and 
other  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  One  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  pejsons  were  during  that  revival  added  to  this  church. 
The  Second,  or  Pine  Street  Baptist  Church,  was  organized 
on  Wednesday,  May  1st,  1805,  numbering  on  that  day  seven- 
teen, but  which  by  the  following  September  had  increased  to 
sixty  members.  And  as  another  fruit  of  this  revival,  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Pawtucket  was  formed  in  the  month  of 
August  of  the  same  year,  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Dr,  Bene- 
dict, that  laborious  and  indefatigable  historian  of  the  denom- 
ination, and  the  efficient  Secretary  of  the  Convention,  and 
who  during  his  fifty  years  residence  in  this  State,  has  ever  felt 
a  deep  intt^rest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Zion  of  our  God.  To 
this  revival  also  is  to  be  ascribed  the  establishment  of  the 
church  in  Pawtuxet  \dllage,  in  the  same  year,  their  meeting 
house  having  been  erected  in  1803,  two  years  previously. 
The  constitution  of  these  three  churches  and  the  large  addi- 
tion made  to  those  already  existing  in  the  State,  gave  to  the 
Missionary  cause  a  new  and  fresh  impulse. 

Already  smaller  bodies,   auxiliary   to   the  parent  society  at 

*This  venerable  father  in  the  ministry  in  his  last  written  instructions  to 
his  children  thus  closes  that  excellent  paper,  viz.:  "  I  commit  you  all  into 
the  hands  of  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  fVom  falling  and  to  present  you 
faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with  exceeding  joy.  To  the 
only  wise  God  our  Savior,  take  care  tliat  you  do  not  deny  him,  or  di- 
minish his  glory  in  your  esteem,  lest  you  be  presented  faulty  in  his  pi-e& 
ence,  and  sink  forever.  This  frcm  him  who  this  moment  of  writing  it 
Las  a  pleasing  prospect  of  being  with  Christ,  the  possessor  of  every  di- 
vine perfection,  when  you  are  reading  it."  Signed,  JOHN  PITMAN. 
2*- 


Boston,  had  been  reconnmended,  and  in  many  of  the  ehurcKes' 
in  the  Association  had  been  organized.  The  formation  of  the 
female  members  into  distinct  societies  was  also  advised  by 
Rev.  Messrs.  Baldwin,  Gano  and  Bolles,  under  the  style  of 
Mite  Societies  for  missionary  purposes.  Among  these  is  the 
Mite  Society  of  the  Baptist  churches  existing  in  this  town  in 
180G,  some  of  whose  worthy  deeds  I  shall  recognize  to-night, 
and  which  I  believe  is  the  oldest,  and  of  course  the  first  mis- 
sionary organization  in  the  State. 

In  the  summer  of  that  year  several  ladies  belonging  to  the 
two  Baptist  congregations  gave  to  the  subject  much  prayerful 
and  deliberate  consideration.  As  yet  every  church  in  the 
State  had  remained  insensible  of  any  obligation  of  this  char- 
acter. Although  the  formation  of  a  female  missionary  socie- 
ty may  seem  to  us  a  matter  of  little  magnitude,  nevertheless 
in  that  day,  it  v/as,  at  that  time,  a  question  whether  it  could 
live  if  it  were  constituted.  Those  ladies  after  due  reflection 
and  advice,  resolved  to  imitate  their  sisters  in  IMassachusetts, 
They  prepared  a  constitution,  and  gave  an  invitation  from 
each  of  the  pulpits  on  the  second  Sabbath  in  November  to  all 
the  ladies  of  both  congregations  who  felt  any  interest  in  the 
enterprise,  to  meet  on  the  afternoon  of  the  succeeding  Tues- 
day, the  11th,  at  the  parsonage  of  the  First  Church,  to  consid- 
er the  expediency  of  forming  such  a  society.  At  the  time 
thus  designated,  a  large  number  convened.  The  twelfth 
chapter  of  the  gospel  of  Mark  was  read,  and  the  first  prayer 
at  the  first  missionary  meeting  in  Rhode  Island,  was  offered 
by  Mrs.  Mary  Cornell,  the  esteemed  wife  of  the  minister  of 
the  second  church,  and  an  efficient  disciple  of  Jesus,  who  also 
Hke  that  Mary,  when  the  teacher  was  on  the  earth,  delighted 
to  git  at  his  feet,  and  hear  his  word.  Encouraged  by  such  a  full 
Representation  as  had  then  met,  the  constitution  previ(«usly  ar- 
ranged was  adopted. 

The  preamble  and  first  article  of  the  constitution  will  suffi- 
ciently explain  the  leading  object  of  the  society  and  the  plan 
to  obtain  funds.     "  Whereas  by  the  blessing  of  God,   mu'ch' 


•2i 

g<M3d  often  results  from  feeble  means : — Therefore,  the  subscri- 
bers, members  of  the  Baptist  Churches  and  Societies  in  Prov- 
idence, with  a  view   to  promote  the  cause   of  religion,  and 
particularly  for  the  encouragement  of  missionary   labors,  do 
agree  to  form  ourselves  into  a  society,  to  be  called  the   Mite 
Society.     Every  subscriber  to  these  articles   shall  become  a 
member  of  the  Society,  and  shall  pay  not  less  than  one  cent 
per  week,  or  thirteen  cents   quarterly,  to  the  collector   within 
whose  district  she  may  live ;  and  on  refusal,  she  shall  cease 
to  be  a  member."     Upon  the  basis  herein  established,  two 
hundred  and  seventy-three  members  were  soon  after  obtained. 
The  penny  per  week  soon  became  almost  an  uniform  regula- 
tion, the  members  believing  this  to  be  the  better  plan  to  secure 
their  purposes,  whicb  was  to  encourage  every  female,  to  do 
something.     Of  the  original  number,  only  thirty  of  whom  are 
icnown  to  be  now  living,  and  but  twenty-one  of  these  remain 
as  subscribers.     Of   the  fourteen   officers  chosen  at   the  first 
meeting,  only  four  survive.     Verily  one  generation  goeth,  and 
another  cometh. 

To  describe  to  you  the  deeply  pious  interest  that  was  felt 
by  many  in  this  neiu  body,  I  will  relate  a  few  of  the  many  in- 
cidents in  which  the  devotion  exhibited  and  the  example  pre- 
■sented,  are  worthy  of  our  consideration.  In  the  first,  the  pas- 
tor, not  only  welcomed  the  ladies  to  his  house,  but  gave  the 
name  of  each  of  his  family  then  at  home,  thus  making  his 
whole  household  contributors.  In  the  second,  the  first  Presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Martha  Eddy,  when  upon  her  dying  bed,  she  ex- 
pressed a  desire,  and  left  the  request  that  each  of  her  daugh- 
lers  siiGuld  continue  their  membership  as  long  as  they  lived, 
and  in  the  hour  of  her  death  committed  in  solemn  prayer  this 
missionary  organization  to  the  kind  and  fostering  care  of  him 
who  bade  female  disciples  to  go  to  his  *'  brethren,  and  say  un- 
to them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and  your  Father,  and  to  ray 
iGod,  and  your  God."  And  in  the  third,  a  worthy  member  of 
fifeis  /sburch  until  her  death^  being  one  year  in  cijcurastances  of 


22 

poverty,  was  for  that  season  designedly  omitted  by  the  collec- 
tor of  her  district.  The  poor  woman  greatly  wondered  hov<r 
she  could  have  been  forgotten  but  still  reserved  her  subscrip- 
tion. At  the  first  time  they  met  after  the  appointed  quarter 
had  expired,  she  inquired  of  the  collector  the  reason  of  her  con- 
duct, and  when  informed  though  in  a  manner  exceedingly  del- 
icate, she  replied,  calling  her  by  her  first  namCj  "  I  do  not  know 
how  it  is ;  I  have  known  what  it  is  to  want  bread  for  my  cry- 
ing, hungry  children,  but  in  all  my  poverty  T  have  never  want- 
ed my  penny  for  the  Lord.  Every  week  for  the  Mite  Society^ 
I  have  regularly  had  it,  and  sacredly  laid  it  aside  for  his  cause,^ 
and  never  in  a  single  instance  touched  it,  until  I  put  it  into  the 
hands  of  the  collector."  1  need  not  add,  she  never  was  passed 
again ;  nor  did  she  fail  in  her  offering  as  long  as  she  lived. 
That  disciple  has  long  slept  in  Jesus.  But  is  it  not  meet,  as 
authorized  by  high  authority  in  another  instance,  that  where- 
soever this  gospel  shall  be  preached  by  this  society,  "  there 
should  also  this,  that  this  woman  hath  done,  be  told  for  a  me- 
morial of  her?"  And  of  several  others  of  these  members, 
who  were  like  her  widows,  and  as  religious  in  the  same  act, 
it  can  be  as  truly  said,  as  Jesus  himself  remarked  when  he 
saw  the  rich  men  casting  their  gifts  into  the  treasury,  saw  also 
a  certain  poor  widow  casting  in  thither  two  mites,  "  of  a  truth 
I  say  unto  you,  that  this  poor  widow  hath  cast  in  more  than 
they  all.  For  all  these  have  of  their  abundance  cast  in  unto 
the  offerings  of  God ;  but  she  of  her  penury  hath  cast  in  all 
the  living  that  she  had."  It  was  a  principle  with  many  of 
those  early  members  to  make  their  daughters  members  also, 
and  to  furnish  them  with  means  that  from  early  life  they  might 
with  their  own  hand  pay  their  subscriptions.  And  it  may  be 
to  such  early  culture  some  of  the  women  who  were  educated 
in  this  Providence,  and  who  have  been  examples  of  great 
liberality,  will  in  the  great  day  trace  under  God,  the  source  of 
their  benevolent  emotions,  and  ascribe  it  to  this  maternal  train- 
ing. 

Forty-seven   years  in  succession  this  society  has  brought 


23 

puiictuaHy  its  annual  collections.  From  1806  to  1812,  the 
Treasurer,*  by  direction  ol  the  society,  transmitted  these  ap- 
propriations to  the  treasury  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society  at  Boston,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
$720,20,  to  be  devoted  by  said  society  to  support  such  men  as 
Cornell  and  Roots,  whose  names  I  have  before  recorded.  In 
1812,  the  words  of  this  evening  were  impressed  with  great 
force  upon  liie  minds  of  the  officers  of  the  society. 
carried  them  in  their  report,  and  rehearsed  them  at  the  annual 
meeting.  The  moral  condition  of  this  State  was  fully  pre- 
sented to  the  members,  and  although  they  felt  no  less  interest 
in  the  fulfilment  of  the  great  commission,  yet,  as  it  appeared 
to  all  who  were  then  present,  the  Master  said  unto  them  in  a 
manner  they  ought  not  to  disregard,  "  Beginning  at  Jerusa- 
lem." From  that  hour  they  resolved  to  devote  their  energies 
to  the  soil  of  their  ancestors,  and  by  the  weekly  penny  collect- 
ion, they  have  raised  the  sum  of  $2,897,55,  making  in  all,  the 
sum  of  $3,617,75.  From  the  year  1812  to  that  of  1825,  this 
society  employed  missionaries,  whose  field  of  labor  has  been 
located  in  various  portions  of  the  State,  and  to  whom  they 
paid  directly  in  amount  $917,80 ;  and  the  additional  sum  of 
$305,20,  they  have  applied  to  other  objects;  and  the  balance 
of  their  receipts,  amounting  to  $1,674,55,  to  the  Board  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Baptist  State  Convention,  which  sum  has  been 
expended  upon  the  Baptist  churches  within  its  borders.  Thus 
the  one  cent  per  week  of  a  few  friends  of  Christ,  desirous  of 
doing  something  to  promote  his  cause,  has  reached  the  sum 
of  $3,617,75 ;  it  being  an  average  of  one  hundred  and  lorty- 
eighi  members  annually,  for  forty-seven  years  in  succession. 

On  Thursday,  May  12th,  1825,  several  members  of  Bap- 
tist Churches  in  Rhode  Island,  assembled  in  the  vestry  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  this  town.  The  object  of  the  meeting 
having  been  announced,  the  interests  of  the  Baptist  Denomi- 


♦Mias  Eliza  Pitman,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Pitman. 


24 

nation  in  the  State  were  discussed,  and  a  constitution  to  cover 
the  emergency  was  adopted;  aud  that  due  deliberation  might 
be  had  on  the  subject,  the  meeting  then  adjourned,  to  assem- 
ble again  in  the  ensuing  August.  On  Thursday,  the  4th  of 
that  month,  there  was  a  large  representation  of  the  churches 
present  at  the  adjourned  meeting,  held  in  the  same  place, 
when  the  constitution  presented  at  the  meeting  in  May,  after 
being  in  some  respects  amended,  was  unanimously  adopted, 
and  thus  beneath  the  roof  now  covering  us,  came  into  forma- 
tion which,  from  that  time,  has  been  known  by  the  name  of 
"  The  Rhode  Island  Baptist  State  Convention."  organ- 
ized for  Missionary  and  Education  purposes ;  and  during  the 
almost  twenty-nine  years  of  its  existence,  it  has  from  year  to 
year  exercised  a  pastoral  supervision  over  the  churches  which 
have  looked  to  it  for  pecuniary  aid  and  religious  counsel. 
And  it  will  not  be  regarded  as  irrelevant,  if  I  add,  that  no  min- 
ister was  more  influential  in  the  constitution  of  this  Conven- 
tion than  the  talented  and  truly  evangelical  pastor  of  the  Sec- 
ond Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  the  deeplj  lamented,  Rev. 
William  Gammell,  born  in  Boston,  Monday,  January  9th, 
1786,  settled  in  Newport,  Wednesday,  Dec.  10th,  1828,  and 
whose  sudden  death  took  place  in  his  own  dwelling  house,  on 
Wednesday,  the  30th  of  May,  1827,  when  forty-one  years, 
four  months,  and  twenty-one  days  old,  near  the  setting  of  a 
bright  sun  ;  an  emblem,  as  was  said,  of  his  own  brilliant  de- 
parture, and  the  twilight  of  which,  being  exceeding  bright, 
was  but  the  reflection  of  the  same  emblem  from  his  own  life. 
It  was  Mr.  Gammell  who  wrote  the  resolution,  passed  at  the 
Warren  Association,  in  Warren,  Wednesday,  September 
14th,  1825,  approving  of  this  Convention,  and  at  his  lips  it  re- 
ceived an  able  advocate,  sacredly  pledging  his  personal  influ- 
ence cordially  to  co-operate  in  every  object,  within  his  power, 
that  its  friends  had  contemplated.  But  alas,  he  who  had  so  re- 
cently enforced  with  great  power  upon  that  Association  at  a 
past  session,  hjid  but  a  mere  remnant  to  fulfil   his  own  tex^ 


25 

"  Occupy  till  I  come."  He  had  preached  with  great  effect  but 
the  Sabbath  before,  at  Wednesday's  sunset,  he  hiniself  was 
gone.*  On  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  June  1st,  his  remains 
were  conveyed  to  his  church,  when  a  very  interesting  and  ap- 
propriate discourse  was  delivered  by  Rev.  President  Way- 
land,  of  Providence,  from  John  vi  :  20,  "  Bid  he  saitli  unto 
thevi,  It  is  J,  be  not  afraicV^  And  a  voice  from  the  holy  place 
seemed  to  respond,  "  Be  ye  followers  of  me,  even  as  I  also" 
was  "  of  Christ ;  "  "  Occupy  till  I  come." 

As  the  Mite  Society  had  for  thirteen  years  sustained  several 
persons  in  missionary  labor,  and  when  the  Convention  was  or- 
ganized committed  their  trust  to  its  care,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say,  that  in  addition  to  the  product  of  $3,617,75,  in  money,  ii  i3 
justly  entitled  to  the  claim  that  has  been  made  in  its  behalf;  a 
claim  which  I  am  sure  the  Convention  will  never  hesitate  to 
acknowledge,  that  this  society  ought  to  be  recognized,  as  it  is 
in  truth,  the  mother  of  the  Convention.  Such  a  designation 
it  is  delightful  to  contemplate.  It  is  a  birth-right  of  no  ordi- 
nary distinction,  for  honorable  women,  not  a  few,  have  added 
their  names  as  the  patrons  of  this  societv  in  each  and  all  of  the 
forty-seven  years  of  its  age.  It  is  also  due  to  this  society 
that  I  should  remark  distinctly,  that  the  sum  of  its  collections, 
as  has  been  already  intimated,  is  the  result  of  a  conscientious 
arrangement,  for  the  members  in  order  to  encourage  every  fe- 
male in  the  congregation  to  become  a  patron  to  it,  adhered 
strictly  to  the  weekly  penny  contribution,  it  being  an  amount 
as  was  believed,  within  the  ability  of  all  to  contribute.  Oth- 
erwise,  many  of  these  members  have  by  collections  and  sub- 
scriptions, given  annually  to  missions,  and  to  other  objects  of 
christian  liberality,  hundreds  of  dollars.  Nor  should  the  infor- 
mation be  withheld  that  those  fathers  in  the  ministry,  Cornell 

*Mr.  Gammell  was  taken  very  suddenly,  and  was  dead  before  his  family 
physician,  or  any  other  could  reach  his  house.  The  former,  Dr.  Dunn, 
highly  valued  by  the  family,  informs  me,  it  was  impossible  to  tell  of 
what  disease  he  died. 


26 

and  Sawyer,  and  brethren,  then  in  their  youthful  courses  of 
religious  study,  Zdlraon  Tobey,  Isaac  Kimball,  Elisha  An- 
drews, George  H.  Hough,  J.  G.  Turney,  William  Leverett,  J. 

R.  Burdick,  S.  West, Wadsworth,  E.  Seagraves,  George 

Leonard,  Barnas  Sears,  and  others  of  kindred  spirit,  have 
been  employed  in  the  service  of  this  society  ;  and  several  of 
our  ministers  have  at  their  regular  different  anniversaries  ad- 
vocated their  claims  to  the  confidence  and  patronage  of  suc- 
cessive generations,  who  have  worshipped  in  this  temple,  the 
God  of  our  fathers.  On  these  occasions  the  voices  of  your 
respective  pastors,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Pattison,  Hague  and 
Granger,  have  told  you  of  their  personal  sympathy.  But 
there  is  a  voice  that  speaketh  more  loudly.  I  refer  to  a  son 
brought  up  among  you,  and  by  your  commendation  sent  forth 
as  a  herald  of  mercy  :  to  him  who  addressed  you  at  your  15th 
anniversary  from  those  words,  so  lull  of  meaning,  seeing  that  in 
himself  has  been  furnished  such  a  truthful  illustration,  "What- 
so  ever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,  for  there 
is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the 
grave,  whither  thou  goest :  " — I  refer  to  him  who  so  rapidly 
sunk  in  death  amid  Newton's  beautiful  scenery,  on  Wednes- 
day, the  9th  of  May,  1838,  when  nature  was  putting  forth  its 
blossoms,  an  emblem  of  his  own  blossoming  in  that  paradisia- 
cal garden  where  the  fruit  never  fails,  not  yet  quite  forty  years 
of  age,  the  Rev.  Professor  James  Davis  Knowles,  the 
lover  of  letters  ;  the  faithful  biographer  of  Roger  Williams, 
and  the  able  expounder  of  theological  truth.  He  was  born  in 
this  town,  Friday,  the  6th  of  July,  1798.  Being  dead  he  yet 
speaketh  to  us  in  the  same  words  in  which  he  then  addressed 
you,  "Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ; 
for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom, 
in  the  grave,  whither  thou  goesl."  So  has  his  tombstone  now 
taught  us  for  nearly  sixteen  years  ;  and  it  will  continue  to  leach 
every  visitant  while  its  letters  remain. 

When  the  voice  of  the  then  youthful  Knowles  was  heard 


27 

by  the  members  of  this  society,  the  persons  who  have  since 
become  constituent  members  of  other  churches  in  this  city, 
formed  in  the  successive  years,  were  present  to  listen  to  his 
counsels.  They  went  forth  with  the  words,  "Do  it  with  thy 
might,"'  yet  admonishing  them.  And  however  feebly  they 
may  have  obeyed  that  injunction,  nevertheless  on  Thursday, 
November  9ih,  1820,  the  Third;  and  on  Saturday,  July  5th, 
1823,  the  Fourth;  and  jon  Thursday,  September  3d,  1840, 
the  Fifth  ;  and  another  also  in  1840,  on  Tuesday,  December 
8th,  the  Meeting  Street  ;  and  in  1846,  on  Friday,  Septem- 
ber 4th,  the  South  ;  and  in  1847,  on  Tuesday,  May  20th  the 
Eighth  ;  and  on  Monday,  February  the  3d,  1851,  the 
High  Street  Baptist  Churches  were  constituted.  And 
it  is  believed  that  in  each  of  these  are  some  of  the  former 
members  of  this  Mite  Society.  And  may  the  members  of 
these  several  churches  hear  the  yoice  of  the  teacher  that  yet 
speaks  unto  them  saying,  "  In  the  morning  sow  thy  seed,  and 
in  the  evening  withhold  not  thy  hand;  for  thou  knowest  not 
whether  shall  prosper,  either  this  or  that,  or  whether  they  both 
shall  be  alike  good." 

I  rejoice  in  the  intentions  of  the  members  of  this  society, 
that  its  age  shall  not  wax  old,  nor  its  eye  dim,  nor  its  foot  slow, 
while  its  arrangement  devolves  upon  them  ;  and  also  that  they 
design  to  bequeath  it  to  their  daughters  as  one  of  their  richest 
legacies.  God  grant,  as  in  the  past,  so  in  the  future,  from 
generation  to  generation,  that  it  may  be  sustained  as  the  glory 
of  the  autumn  of  1806,  and  the  bright  spot  in  the  history  of 
missions  in  this  church  of  1639,  it  being  the  first  missionary 
organization  formed  by  its  members  within  the  two  hundred 
and  fifteen  years  of  its  existence,  closing  with  the  past  Sab- 
bath. Impressive  thought!  when,  as  is  believed,  near  this 
very  ground,  where  now  roads  run,  and  buildings  stand,  Roger 
Williams  and  eleven  other  candidates,  were  buried  with 
Christ  in  holy  baptism,  on  the  profession  of  their  faith  in  him 
as  the  Son  of  God,  March,  1639  ; — the  first  Christian  Baptism 
in  the  new  world. 


28 

The  history  of  the  Convention  furnishes  the  best  illustration 
of  the  utility  of  the  Mite  Society.  Of  our  fifty-one  churches 
in  the  State,  nearly  one  half  have  been  pecuniarily  aided  in 
their  beginning  by  this  body  ;  and  several  of  them  but  for  its 
existence  had  never  been  constituted.  And  it  is  not  therefore 
untruly  said  that  much  of  the  seed  sown  by  hands  under  your 
direction,  Is  now  yielding  fruit.  The  sower  has  overtaken  the 
reaper  and  they  rejoice  together.  But  lift  up  your  eyes  and 
look  on  the  fields  unsown.  How  large  the  portions  whereon 
we  have  bestowed  no  labor?  If  you  in  this  city  be  the  Jeru- 
salem of  this  land,  as  I  doubt  not  you  are,  both  in  civil  settle- 
ment and  church  formation,  it  is  proper  that  I  turn  your  eyes 
upon  your  surrounding  territory.  Does  Providence  County 
bespeak  your  care,  as  it  ought  ?  The  church  meeting  in  this 
house  has  raised  more  than  $7000,  in  the  year  1853,  for  relig- 
ious objects,  in  addition  to  the  parish  expanses,  and  yet  more 
than  $6000,  of  this  sum  has  been  carried  beyond  the  State, 
while  at  this  very  time  in  five  entire  towns,  ono  half  of  the 
ten,  there  is  not  a  church  of  our  order  and  sympathies.  And 
in  the  remaining  five  towns,  we  have  not  a  fair  representa- 
tion. Besides,  some  hundred  years  since  there  were  several 
flourishing  Baptist  Churches  in  this  county,  which  are  now 
extinct.  The  candles  have  been  removed,  and  their  sockets, 
few  can  tell  where  they  were  placed.  We  read  of  them  in 
history,  but  their  location  we  can  hardly  determine.  Is  not 
the  Master  saying  unto  us,  Begin  at  Jerusalem  ?  My  con- 
viction is,  if  we  suffer  our  lands  to  be  constantly  mowed  for  a 
few  succeeding  years,  as  in  the  last  twenty,  and  even  the  sec- 
ond cutting,  and  that  too  without  any  dressing  being  spread, 
it  will  not  require  two  generations  to  make  our  people  cry, 
Our  leanness.  Nor  will  our  reputation  for  Christian  liberality 
endure  in  those  days,  for  our  means  will  have  greatly  ceased. 
And  who  shall  give  account  for  this  moral  desolation?  A 
voice  will  be  heard  saying,  "  These  things  ought  ye  to  have 
done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  other  undone."  Is  it  not  unjust 
U)  entail  upon  our  generations  such  sore  disadvantages  1    Nor 


§9 

ivill  tney  thank  us  for  mansions  dilapidated,  and  fields  iDficorhs 
barren  :    nor  for  principles,  though  right  in  themselves,  yet  so 
entrammelled,  and  even  unpopular  and  odious  by  our  neglecto 
Have  we  not  as  a  people  reached  a  crisis  ?     Should  not  we^ 
inhabiting  a  Jerusalem  given  to  our  fathers  by  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church,  inquire,  Whether  we  fulfil  our  trust,  when  we 
send  from  Rhode   Island,  as  we  did  in  the  past  year,   more 
than  $11,000,  of  $14,000,  raised    in  the  Slate  for  benevolent 
purposes,  while  the  Sta<e  continues  as  it  is,  as  facts  abundant= 
ly  confirm  ?     I  fear  to  speak  on  this  subject,  lest  I  should  disi- 
courage,  or  be  accounfed  as  discouraging  missionary  effort  on 
the  large  plan  the  gospel  contemplates.     Especially  do  I  hesi- 
tate, when  I  consider  the  limits  of  our  territory  and  the  num^ 
ber  of  our  population.     Nevertheless  I  must  speak;     And  be- 
lieve me  when  I  say  that  I  do  not  object  to  the  $11,000,  being 
sent  abroad,  provided  it  exhaust  not  the  soil,   that  it   cannot 
yield  again  so   great  an  harvest.     If  the  field   be  susceptible 
of  greater  cultivation,  and  larger  product,  I  will  rejoice.     And 
that  it  may  do  so,  we  must  begin  at  Jerusalem.     The  heart 
must  be  sound,  or  the  circulation  in  the  body  will  be  impaired 
and  its  vitality  become  weakened  and  endangered'.     The  soil 
must  be  kept  up,  or  the  farm  will  run   out.     The  vessel  must 
be  sea-worthy,  or  the  cargo  will  be  unsafe.     The  house  must 
be  in  repair,  or  it  will   become  uncomfortable  as  a  dwelling. 
The  discipline  of  a  church  must  be  sustained,  and  its  mem- 
bers spiritual  and  energetic,  or  its  light  will   become  dim,  and 
its  salt  lose  its  saltness.     The  gospel  must  be  preached  at  Je- 
usalem,  or  witnesses  will  not  go  abroad.    There  are  times  when 
lands  need  rest,  and  houses  repairs,  and  vessels   to  be  laid  up 
for  new  equipments  ;  there  are  periods  when  our  health  must 
be  resuscitated  and  vacations  enjoyed  ;  when  churches  too  re- 
quire special  prayer  meetings  and  individual   humiliation  ; — ; 
when  christians  must  reform   their  devotions,  or  they  will  not 
be  transformed  in  their  minds,  but  conformed  to  the  world,  and 
not  the  world  to  them.    And  is  there  not  a  necessity  for  such  a 
transformation  in  our  religious   interests  in  this  Stale?     Ouf 


30 

churches  reqiiire  to  be  strengthened,  and  new  IbcatiOns  lo  be 
t)ccupied  ;  old  houses  to  be  taken  down,  and  new  ones  to  be 
put  upi  Could  our  churches,  whether  in  our  cities  or  towns, 
be  thus  judiciously  elevated  to  high  attainments  in  personal 
holiness,  there  would  be  sent  into  our  moral  system  pulsations 
of  life  stronger  than  ever  Were  felt  beforcj  and  this  garden  of 
Ehode  Island  become  by  the  energy  thus  imparted,  what 
tracts  of  country  in  many  places  are,  though  in  geographical 
boundaries  comparatively,  exceedingly  limited,  we  shall  be  a 
Jerusalem,  that  will  be  joy  and  praise  in  our  own  borders  and 
a  glory  in  the  earth. 

Our  field  is  a  pleasant  field.  We  have  every  facility,  and 
the  sympathies  of  the  inhabitants  invite  us  to  cultivate  it. 
We  have  in  its  birth-right  religious  freedom.  And  true  in  ita 
application,  is  the  famous  verse  cast  in  the  metal  of  the  first 
of  the  three  bells  that  have  been  rung  from  the  lower  of  this 
house,  viz.: 

"  For  freedom  of  conscience,  the  town  was  first  planted. 
Persuasion,  not  force,  was  used  by  the  people. 
This  church  is  the  eldest,  and  has  not  recanted, 
Enjoying  and  granting,  bell,  temple  and  steeple." 

Yes !  Rhode  Island  was  settled  for  the  peaceable  en^ 
joyment  of  conscience.  She  is  the  eldest  sister  in  this 
sacred  boon,  and  has  never  recanted.  She  can  be  ruled  by 
persuasion,  and  be  maintained  by  mutual  care.  She  en 
joys,  and  she  grants  to  all,  as  they  elect,  their  faith  and 
their  privileges ;  their  temples  sacredly  to  their  own  pur 
poses,  their  bells  expressly  for  their  own  summons,  and  their 
towers,  as  their  refuges,  into  which  they  run  and  are  safe. 
And  ihus  from  age  to  age  in  the  centuries  of  America,  in  this 
noble  State,  little  as  other  States  may  account  her,  and  false 
as  we  may  prove  to  the  legislation  and  principles  of  our 
fathers,  the  world  have  beheld  the  gospel  sustained  without 
statute  law,  and  without  money,  and  without  price  from  the 
public  treasury,  every  society  according  to  its  wisdom  provid- 
ing for  its  own  ecclesiastical  wants,  and  yielding  one  to  another 
the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  its  own   favored  creed  or  tenets-. 


81 

And  so  long  as  statute  law  does  no  more  than  io  preserve  ihfi 
public  peace,  our  bells  will  echo  in  delighllul  harmony,  ouif 
temples  will  be  filled  with  voluntary  worshippers,  and  oul* 
steeples  will  point  the  way  to  the  skies  as  we  choose  to  in- 
terpret the  word  of  trulh,  every  man  giving  account  of  himself 
to  God.  And  we  need  under  God  no  other  than  persuasion 
to  bring  men  to  conscience,  and  the  gospel,  and  heaven.  May 
a  kind  providence  smile  upon  us,  that  we  may  share  in  the 
results  of  christian  love,  as  we  have  shared  in  the  principle 
that  our  gospel  needs  not  the  civil  power  to  sustain  it,  but  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  the  voluntary  dedication  of  the  man  to 
Christ. 

Beloved,  is  not  the  church  worthy  of  the  effort  we  urge  ? 
Remember  what  you  do  on  the  earth  that  is  simply  worldly^ 
or  even  scientific  merely,  adds  not  to  the  joy  of  your  account. 
But  if  you  convert  these  for  the  advancement  of  the  gospel, 
either  personally  or  relatively,  you  will  convert  sinners  from  the 
error  of  their  ways,  and  thus  save  souls  from  death,  and  hide  a 
multitude  of  sins.  For  let  them  know  that  they  who  are  "wise^ 
shall  shine  as  the  brightest  of  the  firmament,  and  (hey  ihat  turn 
many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever." 

The  ladies  of  this  society  have  entertained  correct  opinions 
concerning  the  manner  of  making  a  people  better.  They  have 
unfalteringly  looked  to  the  gospel  as  being  the  only  efficient 
instrument*  And  they  have  been  anxious,  that  those  who 
preach  it,  in  order  that  their  whole  time  should  be  given  to 
their  work,  that  they  should  not  pursue  any  secular  employ-^ 
ment  as  a  means  ol  livelihood  ;  for  this  they  soAv  clearly  would 
be,  under  the  existing  circumstances,  a  reallo:?s;  praiseworthy 
notwithstanding  as  it  wab  in  Paul  to  labor  v;ilh  his  own  hands 
at  Corinth.  To  secure  a  stated  ministration  of  the  word  they 
have  therefore  aided  churches,  who  were  unable,  to  support  if 
wholly,  and  by  their  means  it  has  been  performed  in  t-everal  of 
our  towns.  They  have  also  sustained  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  by  domestic  missionaries.     And  it  is  to  enable  them  to 


glV6  bifead  to  worthy  men,  who  are  willing  to  abandon  th^ 
opportunities  of  worldly  gain,  and  give  themselves  wholly  to 
the  ministry,  that  your  contribution  will  be  asked  this  eveningi 
And  I  trust  not  sought  in  vain. 

I  hope  every  female  member  of  this  congregation,  who  has 
not  already,  will  be  invited  to  place  her  name  to  the  constitu" 
lion  of  this  Society,  that  this  generation  may  perpetuate  among 
this  people,  the  principle  espoused  in  1806,  by  its  pious 
founders. 

The  labor  of  females  was  not  only  acceptable,  but  very  efH- 
cient  in  the  primitive  age.  The  Lord  Jesus  when  upon  earth, 
f^raciously  accepted  services  rendered  by  those  who,  anxious  to 
manifest  their  pious  attachment,  performed  acts  of  kindness^ 
*The  woman  of  Samaria  was  not,  like  the  blind  man  of  Beth- 
saida,  forbidden  to  publish  his  name.  And  the  direction  of 
Paul  was,  to  help  those  women  which  had  labored  with  him 
in  the  gospel.  In  every  age  woman  has  done  much  for  that 
gospel  that  has  done  so  much  for  her.  And  it  would  be  ad- 
verse to  every  principle  it  inculcates,  and  to  every  sympathy  of 
our  nature,  if  she  refused  her  aid.  Especially  in  these  days  of 
general  culture  is  she  active  in  reedeeming  those  of  her  sex  in 
a  manner  worthy  of  the  peculiar  and  tender  emotions  that 
characterize  every  educated  and  converted  female  to  Jesus 
Christ.  The  various  institutions  which  they  have  originated, 
and  whose  prosperous  condition  and  healthful  influences  are 
the  subject  of  such  universal  approval,  constitute  in  no  ordina- 
ry measure  the  moral  glory  of  our  day.  And  I  cannot  but 
again,  in  the  conclusion  of  this  discourse,  bespeak  your  coun- 
tenance and  pecuniary  contributions  to  the  women  of  the  So- 
ciety, whom  in  the  name  of  our  Convention,  I  would  commend 
unto  you,  as  Paul  did  the  sister  at  Rome,  that  you  receive  them 
in  the  Lord,  as  becometh  saints,  and  that  you  assist  them  in 
whatsoever  business  they  have  need  of  you  ;  for  they  have 
been  the  succorers  of  many,  but  especially  of  the  feeble 
thurches  of  Rhode  Island- 


i0 
This   book   is    due   two   weeks    from    the    last    date  i 

stamped    below,  and   if    not    returned    or    renewed   at   or 

before  that  time  a  fine  of  five  cents  a  dav  will  be  incurred. 

, 

/ 

/ 


938.5 

JacKso-n . 
_  Tl', .  -.,  


JlR 


JlZ 


BRITTLE  DO  NQlj 
PHOTOCOPY    ^ 


